Retention of Military Physicians: The Differential Effects of Practice Opportunities Across the Three Services

This dissertation looks at the link between practice opportunities and physician retention. Data on physicians who entered the Army, Air Force, or Navy and became fully qualified - finishing post-medical school training - between June 1996 and June 2009 are used to explore this question. Two other factors that are commonly believed to be correlated with retention - whether a physician pursues a military or civilian residency and deployment history - are also examined. Physicians are a vital part of a well functioning military health system and therefore the accession and retention of military physicians who have the skills necessary for caring for wounded soldiers is especially important.;Most agree that increasing wages for military physicians would increase retention. What is not well understood is the link between increased practice opportunities and retentions. This dissertation suggests that such a link does exist. Additionally, it appears that the effects attributed to residency type - civilian or military - are less significant than the results reported in other studies on physician retention. Physicians, as a group, face less deployment than other military career fields and yet deployments early in a physician's career are negatively correlated with retention. Deployments later in a physician's career are positively correlated with retention and likely the result of a preference for deployments and military service. The findings should be of interest to personnel and policymakers concerned about managing the physician career fields in the three military services as well as those who engage in military medical manpower research.